Rolling-mill plant



(No Model.)

o. H. MORGAN. -LOLLING MILL PLANT.

N4 PETERS. Poimiwgnphar, Wuhington. DTC.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. MORGAN, vOE WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROLLING-MVILL PLANT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,974. dated Marh 27,1888.

Application filed January 30, 1888. Serial No. 262,323. `(No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.;

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. MORGAN, of Worcester, in the county ofWorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain 5 new anduseful'lmprovements in Rolling-Mill Plants;4 and I do hereby declarethat the fol lowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecication, and in which'- Figure l represents a top or plan view of arolling-mill plant embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is an end/view,upon an enlarged scale, of a transferring device used jin l 5-connection with my aforesaid improved plant, looking in the direction ofarrow a, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through a portion ofsaid vtransferring device upon a still larger scale, taken on line b,Fig. l; and Fig. 4 is a plan view showing one method of driving thefeed-rolls of my improved plant.

My invention relates more particularly to rolling-mill plants for theproduction of what are commonly known as wire rods, and it consists ofthe improved system' of furnaces, reducing-rolls, and feeding,transferring, storing, and coiling mechanism, hereinafter set forth.

vIn order that others may fully understandl the nature and purpose ofsaid improvements, I nwill now proceed to give a detailed descriptionthereof. y

In the drawings, A A A A represent a series of ordinary furnaces forheating the bi1- lets in the manufacture of wire rods, which are in thisinstance ranged in'a semicircle in front of the continuous train ofrolls B for partially reducing said billets. Prior to entering betweensaid rolls B the billet passes over a se'- 40 ries of supportingandcarrying rolls, C, and, as

it leavesv the last set of rolls of said train partially reduced, itenters a swivel conductingpipe, c, wherebyvit is guided in between a setof feedrolls, d, thence by another suitable guide, e, e,.or e2,in-betweenanother set of feed-rolls, f, which feed said billet into oronto asuitable storage receptacle or device preparatory to being furtherreduced t the size of a wire rod by the continuous trains of rolls D D.5o As the finished rod issues from between the last set of rolls of oneof said rod-trains, it is practice said hot-bed bars may be heldinpoheating of the metal after leavingthe rolls I3 guided onto asuitable automatic reel, E, three of which are shown in, this instance,and coiled thereon by the rotation of said reel. Such, in

brief, is the general arrangement of the several elements'composing myimproved plant,

and which comprises the essential feature of myinvention. vVarious modesof construction may be adopted in carrying out said invention inpractice, 6o

and I therefore do not limit myself to any par,-

ticular construction. For this reason I have shown simply in skeletonform the various parts or groups of parts required to illustrate my saidinvention. y 65 F represents a' combined storing and transferringdevice, and consists of a pair'of tubes,

g g, mounted longitudinally in circular frames g gf at the ends. Saidframes are each in'turn4 supported on a pair of frictionrolls,"h3 h3,fit- 7o ted to turn in suitable stationary bearings. When the device isin its normal position, the tubes g g are both upon the same horizontalplane, as shown in Fig. 2, with one tube in line with the feed-rolls fand the other with the train of rolls D, as shown in Fig. 1.

- F represents an ordinary heating-furnace" similar to the furnaces A,and F2 is what is termed a hot-bed, consisting of a series of transverseor cross bars, upon which the bil- 8o lets may be placed for temporarystorage as they are delivered from the train VB, in case of j. thederangement of any of the machinery e'm-v ployed for further reducingsaid billet. In

8 sition by partially embedding them in the 5.5 ground or by fasteninglongitudinal bars to the ends thereof. o I have shown three differentways inwhich l' the billets may be conducted from the billettrain B tothe aforesaid device F, furnace F', or hot-bed F2, consisting of a pipe,e, a series l of rolls, e', and an open trough, e,- but I prefer inpractice the pipe e, for the reason that the metal, being inclosed, isprevented. fromcooling in passing between the points named. It is alsopreferable to employ a device vF rather than a furnace F between thetrain of rolls D D and said conducting-tubes e, as re- I roo wouldordinarily be unnecessary to pass through the subsequent stages ofreductionin producing the wire rods. The protection of the billets afterbeing deposited in the tubes g may be facilitated by making said tubes,as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with an inner and outer casing, and filled inbetween with asbestus or other non-conductor of heat.

The feed-rolls d and f may be operated in any convenient and well-knownway. In Fig. 4 I have shown' one method of driving said rolls by meansof a chain of spur-gears, h h h2, intermeshing one with another, andwhich may in turn be drivenin any well-known way.

It is preferable in practice to combine two or more rod-trains D D andtheir respective conducting devices and reels with the train of rolls B,so that the billets may be passed on for further reduction to one andthen the other of said-rod-trains and their reels as fast as deliveredfrom said train B. Being thus deliv- 'ered in rapid succession, owing tothe use of several furnaces A, as previously described, it is obviousthat the production of the mill is very materially increased over theordinary mills in common use.

As thehot-bed F2 is not an essential feature of my invention, I reservethe right to use the same or not, as desired. .l

The operation of reducing a billet to a wire rod by the use of myimproved plant may be briefly summed up as follows: The attendant firstremoves the billet from one of the heating-furnaces A in the usual wayand deposits it on the feeding or carrying rolls C. Said rolls thencarry it forward between the first set of reducing-rolls of the train B,when it is then continued to be fed forward and reduced by said rollsand each succeeding set of rolls of said train in the usual way. Uponissuing from the last set of rolls the billet enters and passes throughthe swivel guide-pipe c, which has previously been swung in line withone of the sets of feed-rolls, d, by means of the operating-rod t',connected with the forward end thereof. Being now passed in between saidfeed-rolls, the latter feed it forward into and through theconducting-pipe e and in between the second set of feed-rolls,f, whichin tu rn pass it forward and deposit it in the tubes g in linetherewith. An attendant now turns the device F one-half a revolution bymeans of a handle, j, thereon, as indicated in Fig. 2, thus bringingsaid filled or loaded tube in line with the train of rolls D. Anattendant next grips the forward end of the partially-reduced billet bymeans of a suitable swivel gripping device or tongs and draws it forwardand inserts it between the first set of rolls of said train D, asindicated by full and dotted lines in Fig. 1, when said rolls and eachsucceeding set feed forward and further reduce the billet, asin theformer iustance,to the size of a wire rod, which Y as it issues from thelast set or finishing-rolls, is guided by a swivel device similar to thede vice c, Vpreviously described, into and through a suitableconducting-pipe, k or k', onto one of 65 the reels E, upon which it iscoiled between the double row of spokes l thereof as fast as deliveredthereon,thus completing the operation. In practice it is preferable toemploy two reels for each train of rolls D, as shown at the righthandside of Fig. 1, for the reason that while the coil is being formed uponone reel the one previously coiled on the other reel may be removed, andthus obviate any unnecessary delay in the rolling and eoilingoperations.

The various parts of the plant are so constructed in relation to oneanother that the forward end of each billet will enter between thefeed-rolls d before its rear end leaves the last set of rolls of thetrain B, and between the feedrolls f beforeleaving said feed-rolls d.Therefore, after having been fed in between the first set of rolls ofsaid train B, as previously described, the billet is passed forwardautomatically until it is deposited within one of the protecting tubes gof the device F. When thus deposited, the forward end of said billetprojects beyond the front end of the device a. sufficient distance forthe attendant to grip and draw forward the same,as previously described.

For the purpose of convenience in illustration I have shown only a. fewsets of each train of rolls; but it will be understood that a.considerable larger number are employed in practice, the additionalnumber thereof being governed according to different circumstances andrequirements.

Having described my improved plant, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is- Y In a rolling-mill plant, the system ofbilletheating furnaces A, supporting and carrying rolls C, and primarytrain of rolls B, for partially reducing the billets and delivering thesame in rapid succession therefrom, in combination with two or moresystems or apparatuses for further reducing said partially-reducedbillets to wire rods and forming the same into coils, consisting of theswivel guide-pipe c, feed rolls d, conducting pipes e, or theirequivalents, feed-rolls j, storage receptacles or appliances F F F, thetrains of rolls D, reels E, and suitable guides interposed between saidstorage receptacles or appliances and the rolls D, and between saidrolls and the reels, all arranged for operation substantially as shownand specied.

CH AS. H. MORGAN.

Witnesses:

PAUL B. MORGAN, A. A. BARKER.

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